Sensex, Nifty stay in positive territory; BOB declines sharply

With some front line stocks from automobile, banking and realty sectors trading firm on sustained buying support, the market, which opened on a buoyant note this morning, remains fairly well placed in positive territory now.

Healthcare and PSU stocks have declined to lower levels on selling pressure. Power, information technology, oil, capital goods and metal stocks are trading mixed. Midcap and smallcap stocks are mostly subdued and activity is stock specific in these segments.

The Sensex, which rose to 19,902.60 in early trades, is now up 73 points or 0.37% at 19,854.19. The Nifty is up 19.45 points or 0.32% at 6018.35, around 20 points off the day's high of 6038.50.

Tata Motors is up 4.2% at Rs 294 thanks to sustained buying at the counter. Ultratech Cement is up 3.3%. DLF has gained 2.7% and HDFC is trading with a gain of 2.5%. ICICI Bank and Asian Paints are up 2.2% and 2%, respectively.

Bank of Baroda has lost over 5% at Rs 821. Bank of Baroda has announced that it has posted a net profit of Rs 1011.62 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2012 as compared to Rs 1289.85 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2011. Total income increased from Rs 8821.32 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2011 to Rs 9685.51 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2012.